It barely seems worthwhile turning up at Trent Bridge after Lord's. Forget the rankings. England appear already to have been crowned the best team in the world with the most potent bowling attack – some metamorphosis for Stuart Broad, then – and they are playing in their own back yard in Nottingham, which can generate swing for Jimmy Anderson as effortlessly as Benny Goodman.

Meanwhile India, despite their ranking, are suddenly rubbish; they were a shambles at Taunton in their solitary warm-up match and not much better at Lord's; their best bowler is hobbling, their best batsman misfiring. They are meandering along in the wake of their World Cup success and another IPL payday. By comparison with England their preparation for every game is haphazard and zest-free.

There is an alternative view. If we were to judge teams by the vigour and intensity of their preparation, then England would always be near the top of the tree and India near the bottom. There has always been a subcontinental languor in the way India go about their cricket. Not even Duncan Fletcher with a wave of the hand and a merry quip is going to change that.

From the teams of Sunil Gavaskar, a teak-tough cricketer beyond the mischievous smile, to those of Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, also both fierce competitors despite their gentle exteriors, the Indians have rarely sweated much before a match. They prefer to refine their raw talent individually, going about their business in their own way.

Gavaskar never dived in the field – he just did not know how to do (Somerset tried – and failed – to teach him in 1980). Bishen Bedi was none too familiar with the concept of the shuttle run. I guess that Kapil Dev never dived into an ice bath after play. Ganguly was rarely in a hurry to do anything – indeed he could drive Steve Waugh into a rage by casually turning up for the toss a couple of minutes late. At Lord's Sachin Tendulkar, no shirker, never took his pads off throughout India's final training session. He had an hour in the nets, then some more throw-downs, but fielding practice? Perhaps not.

Moreover India are notoriously poor starters. In their past two series against South Africa, the forgotten contender for the best team in the world, India lost the first Tests by seemingly cataclysmic margins. In Nagpur in February 2010 they were defeated by an innings and six runs, at Centurion in December 2010 by an innings and 25 runs. On both occasions there was despair among their supporters and some disdain from their opponents; in both series they went on to win the second Test.

They always seem to begin badly. When India played Australia in Mohali last October, they won by only one wicket – and we know that Australia are now nowhere near being one of the best sides in the world.

This trait must have exasperated Gary Kirsten, their coach then, as much as it does Duncan Fletcher now. Kirsten's long-time friend and assistant, Paddy Upton, had a theory about this: that the Indian collective psyche precluded its sports teams from producing their best performances unless they were in retaliation. They are very laid-back until provoked. Well, at Trent Bridge we can consider them provoked.

Yet this will not mean that Dhoni, the coolest cat in cricket, is going to start jumping up and down furiously, yelling his team towards greater effort. He is a pragmatist, who understands his side's limitations. During the World Cup he was quick to acknowledge "we are not a good fielding side" and after the game against Australia he noted that his team had saved about 10 runs in the field. "It may not be brilliant but that is about as good as it gets for us," he said with a shrug.

At Trent Bridge Dhoni will expect major contributions from his senior men but this does not mean that Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman will start breaking into a trot unnecessarily. Praveen Kumar, a novice even though it looks from his method that he has jumped out of the 60s or 70s, is not going to add an extra five yards to his run-up in pursuit of extra pace.

However, India should not be underestimated because of their apparent passivity. (This may not apply to the "warriors", Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth, who might do anything). England should expect a vastly improved performance from India. Be warned that the tourists know how to retaliate.